Road traffic accidents mean lost productivity and medical expenditures. We explain trends in traffic accidents as a function of the political cycle using municipal data from Italy. We show that during municipal election years, the accident rate increases by 1.5%, with a 2% increase in the injury rate but no effect on the fatality rate. The effects are stronger in the quarter prior to the election quarter, when the electoral campaign is at its zenith, and in the second quarter after the election for the new elected mayor. We show that this is the result of a decrease in tickets for traffic violations (rate and revenues) during election years. Our results are robustly driven by the municipal political cycle defined in different ways, and their magnitude and direction are not explained by the spillover effects between municipalities. Proximity to a national police station reduces the impact of local elections on injury rates.

道路交通事故意味着生产力和医疗费用的损失。我们使用意大利的市政数据将交通事故的趋势解释为政治周期的函数。我们表明，在市政选举年，事故率增加了 1.5%，伤害率增加了 2%，但对死亡率没有影响。The effects are stronger in the quarter prior to the election quarter, when the electoral campaign is at its zenith, and in the second quarter after the election for the new elected mayor. 我们表明，这是选举年交通违规罚单（率和收入）减少的结果。我们的结果受到以不同方式定义的市政政治周期的有力推动，并且它们的大小和方向不能用市政之间的溢出效应来解释。